India’s ‘untouchable’ women face discrimination even in schemes meant to help them

Seema and her husband did quite well when they first opened a samosa stall in the local market of a town in Bihar state, northeastern India.But then other vendors found out who Seema was.They yelled at her customers for buying her samosas. They threatened her husband for “polluting” the market by selling food prepared by her. She put up with it for months before giving up.

What had Seema done wrong? She had been born a Dalit, a member of the “untouchables”, the lowest group in India’s ancient and now officially obsolete caste system.

Seema didn’t look, talk or behave any differently. But someone had found out her family name, which indicated she descended from pig farmers, a job only done by Dalits. That was enough.A rigid occupational hierarchy

While there is some debate about British colonialism amplifying it, the origins of India’s caste system go back thousands of years and are deeply entwined in Hinduism, the religion followed by about 80 per cent of India’s population.

Caste is essentially the stratification of people into a rigid occupational hierarchy.According to the Manusmriti, considered one of Hinduism’s most important books of law, people are born into one of four castes, depending on their conduct in past lives.

The most virtuous come back as Brahmins, the caste of priests and scholars. Next are the Kshatriyas, who are ascribed to be rulers and warriors. Third are the Vaishya, the artistes and traders. Fourth are the Shudras, only good enough to do manual labour.

Below all of them are the Dalits, the “untouchables”, excluded from all jobs except the worst-paid and most degrading — on the pretext of maintaining the spiritual purity of those in higher castes.

India officially outlawed caste-based discrimination in 1950. But it continues to be a fact of life for the estimated 200 million of India’s 1.4 billion population who are Dalits.They are even discriminated against when applying for programmes established to help them. – DTE